Roland Baelish
Prince Roland Baelish is the younger twin of Edmund I Baelish, current Lord Paramount of the Trident and Heir to the Seven Kingdoms. He was named Lord Paramount of the Trident in 384 after the Battle of Harrenhal, and became Heir apparent after the death of Prince Petyr and disinherting of Prince Tristan in 385 during the Dornish-Triarchy War. History Early Life Born only a few seconds after his older brother Edmund to Petyr II ‘The Pious’ and his wife Ysilla Royce, Roland was already the noisiest of the two. It was a trend set to continue for the rest of their lives. He spent some of his early childhood at the Red Keep with his brother, and with his kinsman Brynden before he was sent off to be warded at Casterly Rock later, which would later create the deeper trust between Edmund and Brynden. Also at Casterly Rock were Andar Royce, Heir to the Vale and the son of the Lord Ashford, two boys who would quickly become Roland’s childhood friends, for the time he got to know them. His time at Casterly Rock was mostly uneventful, and joyless when he had to actually listen to Lord Lannister, who seemed to the young Roland like a ruthless and harsh disciplinarian, whether he was or not. He would often sneak off to get into trouble or spy on nearby girls, often influencing the young Ashford to join in with him when he could. Things remained mostly the same until Andar got into a fight with Tyrion Lannister, the Lord’s son. Roland could hardly remember what it was even about, only trying to restrain the young Royce to make sure he didn’t do any lasting damage. That, and telling Lord Lannister that Tyrion had actually hurt himself in an accident. Thankfully, the rest of his time in the West passed quickly for Roland, and once he was a man, he was to be sent back to King’s Landing. He decided against the idea, and instead opted to travel the Seven Kingdoms, knowing that he was unlikely to be King. After a time in the West, he began travelling the Reach. Already known for his charm and his ability to garner women’s attention with only a few words, he quickly became even more popular with the Ladies both baseborn and noble in the region. The Vagabond Prince It wasn’t realised perhaps how powerful his charm actually was - while staying at Highgarden, and meeting Lord Loras Tyrell’s newborn heir, Leo, the wife of one of Lord Tyrell’s brothers caught his eye. It wasn’t long before he had spent a couple of nights in her company while her husband attended to other business. Before he could even return, Roland had resumed his journeys, heading to Oldtown before he got on a boat. He would not know until much later that he had given the future Lady of Oldtown a son - the bastard Harold Flowers, his firstborn. Roland continued his merry travels, fathering another bastard son in The North. In his young days he was strong and not half bad with a sword in hand, and was considered a reputable knight for most of his glory years. He made the eight, attended every feast and wedding he could and made a good name for himself amongst the nobles of Westeros for how he was willing to treat anyone as a friend, despite what differences they may have had. However, his jolly peace would not last long. His father, even though he had never been particularly fond of him, was killed by the Ironborn when he was 25 years of age. He immediately marched to King’s Landing, to be with Edmund. Despite how the brothers were often apart, their relationship always seemed to tie back together like they’d never been without each other. Though he never cared for war, he joined Edmund in the subjugation of the Islands, and he was one of the men to recommend he allow them to keep their God, and perhaps some of their ways. The Ironborn would respect one who respected them, he argued. It was after the war that Roland and Edmund bickered the most. About many subjects of course, but the most common was that Roland seemingly refused to marry. Having never even tried to tie himself down to a woman in particular, and the only thing he had that was close to a long-term relationship with a single person was his closeness to Edmund, Roland had no idea what he would do other than go stir crazy, and simply refused outright. After every argument, the two simply returned to normal, like they had never had it. Taking it upon himself to treat with the Ironborn, having seen the Gravehand’s crushing defeat in the Subjugation of their islands, he took the time to visit House Drumm’s home island of Old Wyk in particular in 372AC. There, he met Ravos Drumm, a young boy of eight at the time. Seeing that he had a certain spark of intelligence, Roland treated the boy with respect and taught him about intrigue, as he would later do with others. He also took a liking to his aunt Gisella, and soon he fathered a third bastard son, Targon Pyke. This son he would later take with him, and raise himself. Still going on his journeys, Roland would often visit his bastard sons, and often on his visits to Highgarden, he would take the time to speak with the young Leo Tyrell and Jon Stark, who warded there with the Lords of the Mander. They, and when he visited Targon, Ravos Drumm, would often receive advice about women, the courts, how rulership often really went and about how to handle themselves with confidence. Though Jon seemed disinterested in those lessons in particular, he would often share about how intrigues and schemes were carried out in those courts, and what to be careful of for their own sakes. Brynden's Rebellion and the Dornish-Triarchy War As the years passed and he became more experienced, Roland would host more than a couple of squires. One of the most notable was Lothar Baratheon, who he took on shortly before the rebellion in 381AC. When rebellion did occur, the Prince could scarcely believe it, that the kinsman he saw as being so close to Edmund would betray him in the way that he did. As the rebellion began, Roland stuck close to his twin brother, until the defeat they suffered at Darry. Instead, he was sent with a detachment of royal troops to join Lord Lannister, already someone he knew enough to work well with, and Lord Blackwood at the Siege of Riverrun. At the siege, he soon got to know and enjoyed the company of Lord Blackwood, one of the few loyalist Riverlords, along with his son and his daughter, Melony. Roland was intrigued by Melony’s talent for medicine and her seemingly genuine interest in helping others, which surprised him. After Riverrun eventually fell, Roland marched with the rest of the army to Harrenhal. There, their combined forces met the full force of the rebellion, in a battle heaving with over thirty thousand men. Roland, now older and not the warrior he once was, was caught in battle by Lord Lynderly. The Valeman outclassed him utterly in swordplay, and if it were not for Lothar’s quick interference along with Malegorn Clegane, the Prince would have been dead, rather than just seriously wounded after the battle’s end. After the battle, and now the ended rebellion, Roland was made Lord of Harrenhal and Lord Paramount of the Trident. Still needing time to recover, he would only bring Riverman reinforcements into the conflict with the Triarchy later on, from a combination of Lothar’s requests and the Prince of Dorne sending his second son, Edric, to squire with Roland as well in return for his aid. Eventually, the Prince agreed, joining his battle despite how tired he already was of the blood and death. Roland would join his family for the siege of Myr, sticking to Edmund as he always had. He was not as involved with the siege as his nephews, and would join the King in marching north as Prince Tristan carried out his plan. He heard the rumours moments before King Edmund, and did all he could to prevent his older twin from harming anyone around him, executing his own son or anything drastic, knowing that grief would twist his mind. Soon, the war was over, but not in the way that was hoped. Their forces were surrounded and soon, they were forced to surrender to the Archon. With the war over in a crushing defeat and the loss of both of his nephews, Roland was now heir apparent. For once, he did not argue with Edmund. He agreed to marry, and was told to seek it out amongst the Riverlords. Knowing that she would now be of age and he would need to secure strong, loyalist allies in the Trident, Roland approached Lord Blackwood for his daughter Melony’s hand in marriage. Roland and Melony were married in 385AC at his new seat of Harrenhal, and the Prince of Dragonstone for once, did not lecher or debauch. For once, he had to consider being King, the heir to a childless brother. Soon, he would have a son of his own. In 386, Luceon Baelish would be born. For once, it seemed like things had calmed down, and Roland focused on administering the Trident, trying his best to figure out what a ruler should be, or at least he should be as one. In 390AC, he found out about his brother’s illness, and rode to King’s Landing, hoping to spend as much time as he could with him, before the inevitable end. Category:House Baelish Category:Crownlander Category:Claimant